Save Money on Multiple Windows 7 Installs with a TechNet Plus Subscription

This is a little old by about 7 days, but last time I checked the 25% off discount was still valid.

From: Paul Thurrott's SuperSite For Windows

Tip date: April 9, 2010
Tipster: Jeff Sprouse

If you're looking to upgrade multiple PCs in your home to Windows 7, there are various ways to save money. If you acted quickly enough last year, you could have purchased the Windows 7 Family Pack, getting three copies of Home Premium edition for just $150, but that deal is now over. If you already have Windows 7, you can save a bit of money by using the integrated Windows Anytime Upgrade feature to electronically upgrade to a higher-end product edition. But that only works if you're already on Windows 7, of course.

So what about those households that need multiple Windows 7 copies? With an average retail price of $150 for the Upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium, buying two, three, or more copies can really add up. Is there a cheaper way?
Of course there is. You just need to know where to look. And in this case, that place is somewhere that is hidden to average consumers. It's called TechNet Plus.


TechNet Plus is a subscription service that Microsoft aims at IT pros. There are various versions of the service at various price levels, but the one you should consider is called TechNet Plus Direct. It costs $349 for a year ($249 for renewals), and includes online access to downloadable ISO files for various Microsoft operating systems and applications, including full versions of Windows 7, Vista and XP, Windows Server 2008/R2 and 2003, Microsoft Office and standalone Office apps, and more. That's a lot of stuff. But it gets better.

Consider the following:
It's forever. Even though the subscription lasts only a year, the product keys for the products you have access to won't stop working after a year. So while you will lose download access to those ISOs after a year, as long as you saved copies of them, you can reinstall over and over again. The product keys are forever.

It's for multiple installs. Each product key can be used to install up to 10 versions of the OS or application, for the most part. (I believe the Windows Server installs are limited to one or two installs.) But that's actually 100 (yes, 100) installs for each Windows 7 product edition, because you can activate each key 10 times. So you get 100 installs of Windows 7 Ultimate, 100 installs of Windows 7 Professional, 100 installs of Windows 7 Home Premium, and so on. That's an incredible value, though it should be noted that this program is designed for a single person. You can't share the product keys with others. What you're getting, essentially, as an individual is multiple, unlimited installs of the products that are included with the subscription ... for yourself.

They're full product versions. These are not time-limited products, and they're not upgrade versions. TechNet Plus supplies full product versions.



It's for non-commercial use only. While TechNet Plus is aimed at IT pros for testing purposes only, it's only real legal limitation is that these products cannot be used in production environments for commercial purposes. So you can't run your company's web site on a version of Windows Server you got from TechNet Plus. But there's no reason you can't run them on your home computers. In fact, Microsoft specifically says in its TechNet licensing FAQ that "the license grants installation and use rights to one user only, for evaluation purposes, on any of the user’s devices, this may include devices at home."

You get free software updates. If you subscribe to TechNet Plus now and Microsoft releases, say, Office 2010 during the time when your subscription is active, you'll get access to Office 2010 in addition to the previously available version, Office 2007.

It's inexpensive. If you want three or more copies of Windows 7 Home Premium, TechNet Plus is already less expensive than going the retail route, and by a wide margin. In fact, it's no contest.

The trick? You just need to understand that it exists.

Bonus tip: Save 25 percent! Thanks also to David Sherman for pointing out that you can get a 25 percent discount on TechNet Plus if you use the code TNITQ406 when ordering your new subscription. Here are the details.

That drops the price to: $261.75

With an annual subscription, you can evaluate over 70+ full-version Microsoft software titles like Windows 7 and Office 2010 without time or feature limits.

But hurry! Offer ends 6/30/10.

--Paul Thurrott
April 9, 2010

So does this mean that when Windows 8 is released (assuming that's the name for it) it's ours for 100% free, except for the membership, of course? And can you get older Windows versions (Win 2K, Win 98 and so on) w/their product keys also? One last thing, when the next Windows beta is released, does having a membership guarantees you a download for the beta? It looks good, but if you have to pay anything in addition to the yearly fee for your OS's, I'd have to back away. It would be pricey to have to pay anything over and above the membership cost to obtain any Windows product. And being that I'm the only computer user in my home, is the price worth it? After all, the thread began as a way to save FAMILIES money.

Yes to all of your questions, but when you receive the beta will depend on your TechNet subscriber level. For example, the very expensive Gold level will get you access to almost every build.

I noticed when I clicked onto the site that there were two levels of membership. Is the lower priced one a watered down version of the far more expensive (gold) membership? I can see a possible savings (once again, I'm a single user here), on the regular version. But I still would want the real deal, even if I have to wait a little longer for the RC of the next Windows. This does look good, and I'll have to give this program serious consideration, I've read other articles regarding this program, and the feedback was excellent. I can understand where the "gold" members comes first, they lay out more cash, and should receive the best. But as long as I'll receive the same, only at a slower pace, I think I could live with that.

On the "regular" TechNet membership, you'll only receive regular betas like Windows 7 build 7000 or RC build 7100, but you'll get them weeks before other people. TechNet subscribers got the Win 7 RTM about 4 months before the public.

The higher priced membership also ships the DVDs to the member.

The lower priced membership provides downloads only.



Actually my intent was to provide everyone an opportunity to become a member of the Microsoft TechNet Community.

Since the retail price of Windows 7 Ultimate Full version is: $284.99 and the retail price of Windows 7 Professional Full Version is: $268.99 I thought that some members would rather just become a TechNet member and save their hard earned dollars. [Prices are from the Newegg website as of 4-16-2010]

This is a fantastic thread and is very informative. Being that I have no "cap" on my internet use, downloads are fine with me. Nibiru, I mentioned families because you brought up a scenario where several members of a family could save HUGE by having this program. The "gold" package is out of reach for me, but the "regular" or basic membership is not a chump change program. It's as good in many ways. By receiving the downloads a little later, some of the bugs most likely have been worked out of the beta products. Which is what I'd prefer. Looks like I'll be getting a much larger internal hard drive for my desktop, as you have access to all kinds of programs with this program. I recently read about a program called Microsoft Forefront security (I hope that I got the name right). If I'm going to have a program of this nature, I'm taking full advantage of what it offers. I'll probably need at least a 750GB drive for these things. But like RAM, drives cost less than ever. I can use the one in my desktop now for a second backup drive. Nibiru, you told me that if I can change my oil in the car, I could build a drive. Hope that you'll help!

Perhaps you mean Forefront Identity manager?
That is up, together with language packs.
Also there is:

Forefront Client
Forefront Client Security Beta
Forefront Identity Manager 2010
Forefront Protection 2010
Forefront Security for Exchange Server
Forefront Security for SharePoint
Forefront Security, Office Communications Server
Forefront Server Security Management Console
Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010
Forefront Unified Access

I am not sure, but I think, as a non member, you can browse the page but, of course, will not be able to download anything. Try it:

http://technet.microsoft.com/da-dk/s...lt(en-us).aspx

Piece of cake! Easier than slathering barbecue sauce on a slab of baby back ribs!

davehc, I'm intending to become a member, although not a "gold" one where you get the DVD's or CD's. I want the membership where I download the products that I want. The reason that I brought up that program was that I receive newsletters on it all of the time. With this membership, it's my understanding that I would be entitled to any product that Microsoft offers, as long as I'm a paying member and don't mind downloading the products. I have no "cap", as far as downloads goes, so this program can highly benefit me. Hope this clears things up.